In a Nutshell

The Fine Print

Promotional value expires Sep 1, 2015. Amount paid never expires.Limit 2 per person, may buy 1 additional as a gift. Limit 1 per visit. Limit 1 per table. Valid only at listed location. Reservation required. Not valid toward the purchase of alcohol. Not valid for happy hour specials. Dine-in only; not valid for take-out. Must use promotional value in 1 visit. Does not include tax or gratuity.Merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the care and quality of the advertised goods and services.

Tsunami Sushi Mission Bay

The Deal

Tsunami Sushi Mission Bay

In traditional Japanese cooking and design, style flows directly from substance. One could say the same about Tsunami Sushi Mission Bay. Ultra-fresh fish and vegetables create tableaux of bright colors on the plates, which contrast with the restaurant's clean lines, exposed brick, and ceiling of Japanese white oak. Paper lanterns suffuse the minimalist space with an intimate glow of scarlet and orange.

Tsunami's dishes show similar restraint, keeping the focus on high-grade ingredients such as oysters on the half shell and raw amberjack. But there's still a sense of play at work, especially in its entree names. The Dr. Octopus—one of several "crudos" that takes its cues from South America and Italy—serves its slices of cephalopod with habanero tobiko and a diploma printed on a nori sheet. The maki rolls are just as whimsically named, from the veggie-loaded Honky Tonk Pistol to the minty-fresh Custom Kicks' blend of shrimp, tempura, and hot-and-sour dressing. But the restaurant's superb traditional staples may be best encapsulated by SF Weekly, which praised "some of the creamiest-textured, deliciously mushroom-flavored miso soup in town" after a 2009 visit.

Though it's hard not to order food at Tsunami, it's not a requirement. The restaurant also serves as a sake bar, with more than 60 varieties of Japan's signature spirit. Bartenders likewise pour several gins and single-malt whiskeys when they're not dreaming up new cocktails.